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theoriginalharbinger t1_iy6b8rd wrote

Age is far less important than people think. Maintenance and proper diagnosis matter more.

I'd take a 20-year-old Corolla before a 10-year-old VW. I'd take a 300,000 mile Corolla driven by Grandma Mae and dealer-serviced every 3k over a 150,000-mile Corolla driven by Big Steve the 16yo and hooned in the high school parking lot.

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the_whole_arsenal t1_iy6fs7j wrote

Yeah, pretty much this. Maintenance can add 10 years to a car or lack of can remove 5 years from a car. Stuff like a $50 oil change is a small insurance policy. Honda says I can go 8k miles, but I do 5k. Over 150k miles the difference would be 19 vs 30 oil changes, or $550. But I'll get 300k miles, and the guy that goes 8k will likely only hit 200k before forking out $3,500 on rebuilding the lower engine (oil pump, piston rings, pickup tube and bearings).

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mistermephist0 t1_iy6inz1 wrote

Is this the case for newer cars though? Maybe the same idea, but the timeline different. i.e. 8 vs 12 years. Just feels like cars these days are not made the same

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ScipioAfricanvs t1_iy6mzt0 wrote

I don’t think it’s wise to completely be dismissive of age as you suggest. Wear items go based on both time or mileage (or a combination of both). Rubbers, seals, electrical components, etc. are all more likely to fail as a function of age regardless of how well maintained the car is.

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